* JD SPORTS: British sportswear retailer JD Sports Fashion has entered the South Korean market through a joint venture deal, it said on Friday.

* STHREE: British recruiting firm SThree expects full-year adjusted pretax profit to be ahead of the consensus, helped by a strong performance in continental Europe and the United States, its two biggest markets, the company said on Friday.

* ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND: Britain’s markets watchdog has rejected calls to publish a report into allegations Royal Bank of Scotland bankrupted small companies to pick up their assets on the cheap, saying it would instead release a detailed summary soon.

* ROYAL DUTCH SHELL: Royal Dutch Shell Plc may begin resuming production at its 325,700-barrel-per-day (bpd) joint-venture Deer Park, Texas, refinery as early as Friday, sources familiar with plant operations said on Thursday.

* OLD MUTUAL: Suitors for Old Mutual’s asset management arm run by veteran British investor Richard Buxton have until Sept. 29 to submit tentative bids for the business, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

* ROYAL DUTCH SHELL: The Brazilian unit of Royal Dutch Shell PLC will invest $2 billion per year in the country through 2020, Flávio Rodrigues, director of government relations and regulatory affairs, said at an industry event on Thursday.

* GOLD: Gold rose on Friday to pull further away from a two-week low, after North Korea fired another missile over Japan, triggering the latest round of safe-haven buying in markets while weighing on the dollar.

* OIL: Oil prices were lower on Friday but largely held gains that had prices flirting with multi-month highs, as the cleanup after hurricanes in the United States gathered pace and the outlook for demand took on a firmer tone.

* COPPER: London copper firmed early on Friday, rebounding from overnight losses, as investment funds followed a flight into risk-averse investments like metals after North Korea ratcheted up geopolitical tensions with the firing of a missile over Japan.